Bengal, J&K, Ladakh and five other State Collectors empowered to grant citizenship under CAA
The Ministry of Home Affairs notified an amendment to the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, empowering District Collectors/District Magistrates in eight States and Union Territories — including West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — to process and grant citizenship applications under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019
District Collectors now function as the "competent authority" to receive, verify, and decide applications for registration or naturalisation under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, replacing the earlier system of Empowered Committees and Designated Officers for these regions
Pending applications previously held with Empowered Committees or District Level Committees in the notified states/UTs are to be transferred to the relevant District Collector
The original CAA Rules, 2024 had come into effect on 11 March 2024; this notification extends the district-collector-level processing mechanism to additional states/UTs
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 — Section 6B
The CAA, 2019 amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by inserting Section 6B, which provides an eligibility route to Indian citizenship (by registration or naturalisation) for persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, who entered India on or before 31 December 2014, and are exempted from adverse legal consequences under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946.
Key Details
- Enacted by Parliament in December 2019; came into force via notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules on 11 March 2024
- Section 6B(4) provides that persons granted citizenship under this provision are deemed citizens from the date of their entry into India, and pending legal proceedings against them (regarding illegal migration) stand abated
- Reduces the qualifying period of residence for naturalisation for the specified category from 11 years to 5 years
- Section 6B does not extend to areas covered under the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime (parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland) or areas under the Sixth Schedule, in recognition of indigenous population protections
The district collectors empowered by this notification are the officials who will now directly receive and process Section 6B applications for their districts, rather than applicants routing through a centralised Empowered Committee.
Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 — Processing Architecture
The CAA Rules, 2024 created a tiered administrative structure for verifying and granting citizenship applications, involving District Level Committees (DLCs) for document verification and Empowered Committees (chaired by the Director/Deputy Director, Census Operations) for the final grant decision.
Key Details
- Rule 10A governs the application process for citizenship by registration/naturalisation under Section 6B, with applications filed electronically through the Indian Citizenship Online portal
- Under the original architecture, the Empowered Committee — after DLC verification — determines if the applicant is a "fit and proper person" before granting citizenship and administering the oath of allegiance
- The amendment discussed in this news designates the District Collector/District Magistrate as the direct competent authority in the notified states/UTs, effectively merging the DLC and Empowered Committee functions at the district level for faster processing
- Naturalised citizenship under the Act requires the applicant to take an oath of allegiance as prescribed in the Third Schedule to the Citizenship Act, 1955
This procedural shift — from a committee-based to a District Collector-based mechanism — is the substantive administrative change reported, extending to eight states/UTs including two Union Territories (J&K and Ladakh) that fall directly under Union government administration.
Constitutional and Legal Basis of Citizenship in India
Citizenship in India is governed by Part II of the Constitution (Articles 5-11) read with the Citizenship Act, 1955; Article 11 specifically empowers Parliament to regulate the acquisition and termination of citizenship by law, which is the constitutional basis for the CAA, 2019 itself.
Key Details
- Article 5 provided for citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution (1950); Articles 6 and 7 dealt with migration from/to Pakistan around Partition
- Article 11 gives Parliament plenary power to make any provision on citizenship, overriding the specific provisions in Articles 5-10 where inconsistent — this is the enabling provision under which the Citizenship Act, 1955 (and its 2019 amendment) was enacted
- The Citizenship Act, 1955 recognises five modes of acquiring citizenship: by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, and incorporation of territory
- The CAA, 2019 was challenged before the Supreme Court on Article 14 (equality) grounds; the matter remains under judicial consideration
The administrative rollout being expanded to more states/UTs operationalises the Section 6B naturalisation/registration route that Parliament created under its Article 11 power, even as constitutional challenges to the underlying Act remain pending before the Supreme Court.
- CAA Rules, 2024 notified and came into effect: 11 March 2024
- Naturalisation qualifying period for CAA-eligible applicants: reduced from 11 years to 5 years
- Cut-off date for entry into India under Section 6B: on or before 31 December 2014
- Eligible countries of origin: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan
- Eligible communities: Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian
- States/UTs newly covered by District Collector-level processing per this notification: eight, including West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh
- Constitutional basis: Article 11 (Parliament's power to regulate citizenship), Part II (Articles 5-11)